"Big Brother!"
"Big Brother who flies the spaceship!"
After so many years, Setsuna once again experienced the feeling of being surrounded by a group of little girls from another world.
The little fairies were extremely curious about the unfamiliar faces. Some crowded around him, while others hid a little farther away, unable to stop themselves from glancing in his direction.
"Chtholly?"
Nygglatho spotted someone familiar among the group, along with the accompanying Winged Guard officer.
"This is?..."
"The Winged Guard should have notified you earlier. By order of the Great Sage, control and usage rights over the fairies of the Fourth Warehouse will henceforth be transferred to the Starsea Empire."
The officer proactively presented his credentials and identified himself.
"Huh? Why? This..."
She had never even heard of the Starsea Empire, and Setsuna's group were all complete strangers to her.
"Those are orders from above. Just follow them."
The officer kept his explanation concise.
"Ah... oh, all right..."
Still somewhat confused, Nygglatho followed the instructions and gathered the little fairies together.
"Everyone, quiet down. Let's take attendance."
"Oooooh—"
The fairies noisily formed several lines.
The officer took out a roster and carefully counted them one by one according to the names listed on it.
He had no idea why his superiors were handing the fairies over to the Starsea Empire, but he was merely someone whose job was to follow regulations, and he had no desire to create unnecessary complications.
Whatever his superiors told him to do, he would do. No need to think too much, and certainly no need to ask too many questions.
"Nephren Ruq Insania."
"Here."
A fairy soldier with light gray hair tied into twin tails raised her hand.
"Ithea Myse Valgulious."
"Here!"
"Rhantolk Ytri Historia."
"Ithea Myse Valgulious, Collon Rin Purgatorio..."
"..."
He meticulously counted every fairy in the warehouse before solemnly handing the roster to Setsuna.
"Your Excellency, every fairy from Floating Island No. 68 is present. None are missing."
"Including Chtholly, there are five adult fairy soldiers and thirty-six juvenile fairies in total."
"If you need to deploy them or conduct adjustments, I can help you contact Floating Island No. 11 and the Dug Weapon technicians."
"No need. This is enough."
Setsuna glanced over the roster and nodded.
Aside from the Fourth Warehouse on Floating Island No. 68, there were also fairy warehouses of various sizes scattered across other floating islands. Other members of the train crews had gone to take control of those.
"Good. Your task is complete."
"Yes!"
The Winged Guard officer visibly relaxed.
He saluted and prepared to leave aboard the spacecraft.
Before departing, he gave Nygglatho and the fairies a few final instructions:
"The Winged Guard has transferred ownership of all of you to the Starsea Empire. From now on, you must obey their orders."
"Oh..."
His tone was as casual as if he were transferring ownership of equipment or some other object.
Perhaps because they had long grown accustomed to being treated as "tools," the little fairies had no particular reaction to this.
The only difference was that the people giving them orders had changed from Winged Guard officers to unfamiliar strangers.
They were much more curious about these unfamiliar faces.
Compared with the uniformly dressed Winged Guard soldiers in their military uniforms, most of the people around Setsuna were beautiful girls.
Elysia in particular radiated maternal warmth. She produced a handful of candy as though performing a magic trick, making the little fairies giggle happily.
"An angel! Are you an angel big sister?!"
Several little girls surrounded Jibril and Ikaros, tentatively reaching out to touch their wings.
"Wait!!"
Only then did Nygglatho realize that a group of complete strangers had somehow directly taken control of the entire warehouse and all the fairies within it.
She didn't even know where these people had come from or what they intended to do.
Hurriedly lifting the hem of her maid skirt, she ran forward and stood in front of the fairies.
"Um, although the Winged Guard has already transferred ownership of the fairies to you, I-I'm their guardian."
"I... I wanted to ask what exactly you intend to..."
She gathered her courage and asked.
"We are the Starsea Empire. The floating continent cluster has already been incorporated into our rule. You'll hear more news and official notices shortly."
Setsuna answered.
"The Empire is taking over the merchant associations and the Winged Guard. The Leprechauns are one of the most important parts of that transition. From now on, they'll live in the Starsea Empire."
"Huh?"
Through the Winged Guard officer and her communications with her superiors, Nygglatho roughly pieced together what had happened.
The Great Sage had already ordered the complete transfer of administrative authority over the floating cities to the Starsea Empire, including military, economic, magical, and every other aspect of governance. The Leprechauns were part of that transfer as well.
"Then... may I ask what you intend to do with them?"
Nygglatho asked again.
"Many of the fairy soldiers are still very young and need someone to look after their daily lives. They're not ready to be sent onto the battlefield yet..."
As she spoke, Nephren and several other adult fairy soldiers raised their hands.
"If someone needs to fight the Beasts, send us first."
"..."
"Do I look like someone who'd throw little girls at monsters and have them blow themselves up?!"
Setsuna felt that, out of sheer force of habit, they had developed some very strange assumptions about him.
Even the little fairies thought of themselves as "tools" rather than "people."
He stepped forward, crouched down, rubbed Nephren's head, and conjured a lollipop before handing it to her.
"From this moment on, not one of you will ever set foot on a battlefield again."
"You'll study, live, play, and make trouble just like other children in the Starsea Empire, and you'll begin your lives anew."
"Oh..."
Nephren blinked, only half understanding.
She licked the candy. It was so sweet.
...
Half an hour later.
Click—
The first group of Leprechauns chattered excitedly as they followed behind and boarded the shuttle, which transported them to the Astral Express.
For as long as they could remember, they had spent most of their lives inside warehouses, waiting to grow up, undergo adjustment, reach maturity, and then be sent onto the battlefield.
They rarely ever left their island and had certainly never seen an alien spacecraft before.
They were both curious and excited.
"A flying train!!!"
Ithea cried out in astonishment.
Under the guidance of the Angeloids, they lined up and entered the train cars.
At the same time, members of the other train crews piloted small spacecraft from various floating islands, bringing the other fairies aboard as well.
The entire Astral Express suddenly became noisy again, with little girls everywhere.
On the seats, on the tables, in the aisles, standing, sitting, lying down... the entire train car had turned into a children's playground.
"Clear out a section of the train and arrange temporary accommodations for them."
Setsuna summoned Himeko and the Angeloids.
Fortunately, after its modifications, the Astral Express had expanded considerably, and Crews Five and Six were also stationed here.
There was more than enough room to accommodate the several hundred little fairies from the floating city cluster.
"Yes—"
The Angeloids hurried around the train cars, setting up children's dormitories.
"Where... are we going?"
Chtholly asked timidly.
"You'll stay aboard the Astral Express for the next two days and undergo full physical examinations while you're here."
"Once we've finished dealing with this world's problems, we'll take all of you back to the Starsea Empire."
Setsuna glanced at Sophon's scanning report.
The Winged Guard was faithfully carrying out the Great Sage's orders, gathering the fairies together and transporting them over ship by ship.
It wouldn't be long before every last one of them had been assembled.
"My lord, if you take away all the Leprechauns, we'll lose our ability to fight back against the Beasts."
A communication from the Great Sage came through.
"If possible, I ask that you eliminate the threat posed by the Beasts as soon as you can..."
Out of caution, the merchant associations and the Winged Guard had complied with Setsuna's demands, but once the painstakingly cultivated fairies were taken away, the city defense forces alone would have no chance whatsoever of resisting a Beast attack.
According to their projections, the Sixth Beast would launch an invasion of Floating Island No. 15 within no more than half a month. Whether they could survive the crisis now depended entirely on these visitors from another world.
"Don't worry. We'll take care of those things."
Gudako patted her chest, signaling for him not to worry.
"The Starsea Empire has an old saying: take their lolis, solve their troubles. Mm."
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